


i'll be there when you wake up

by DisgruntledFantasy



Category: The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue Series - Mackenzi Lee
Genre: Disablity, Epilepsy, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, it all ends well though I promise, kind of angsty??, percy has a seizure, tggtvav
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-06
Updated: 2019-05-06
Packaged: 2020-02-27 03:35:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18730894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DisgruntledFantasy/pseuds/DisgruntledFantasy
Summary: percy has a fit not long after setting up his new life on the island, monty does the best he can





	i'll be there when you wake up

**Author's Note:**

> Percy was the first character I saw in literature who also had seizures. I remember getting really emotional reading about his epilepsy for the first time, and he's one of my favourite characters I've ever read about. This is short and I just wrote this for me but I like it so uhhh, here you go??

The cot was a cramped rickety thing. A local wanted to throw it out, but Monty had gotten to it first. With a sparse understanding of the local dialect and some eagerness on his part, he snatched it up and took it back to the small apartment he and Percy shared. He said he would fix it. To his credit, he tried although it wasn’t his best work. They didn’t teach you this kind of thing at Eton. Well, maybe they did and he hadn’t stayed long enough to find out. Still, it did what it was supposed to do, and they didn’t have any alternatives. At that point, anything was better than having spent another night on the damp, slightly mouldy floor. They pushed it up against the window so that when they woke up they would be able to see the sky, to smell the sea. The two rarely shared the bed though. The odd jobs they both took had funny schedules. They were like passing ships. When one woke up the other was just getting back from a busy shift. It was tense to start out with. Weariness trickled into their bones, the uncertainty of it all gave them both anxiety that felt like a clenched fist in their stomachs. But at the end of the day, it was either this or the life before. Both included pain, but this kind of suffering was preferable.

It was one of the few nights since they had arrived on the island that they were able to share together. Percy had a short shift in the morning, whilst Monty came in from helping at the local stables that afternoon. After he washed the muck off him they shared a small meal and followed it with large drinks. They laughed as the lamps bathed the room in a bronze hue. He felt safe then, as he leaned against his partner. Everything clicked into place. Monty was supposed to be here, he deserved to be here. For a moment he forgot about the dread of living hand to mouth and the early mornings. It was a quiet and sweet kind of happiness, a warm glow. When they finally stumbled into their cot they noticed there wasn’t much room. There wasn’t any room. Percy had to curl up ever so slightly against the wall, and Monty realised he would have to stay motionless for most of the night. Neither could complain though, they were too pissed for any of that. They fell asleep fast, with Percy’s arm lazily draped of Monty, their legs tangled together like snakes.

The punching woke Monty up. He startled awake as a clenched fist hit his torso. At first, he was eager to write it off as a nightmare. He’d had a few since he’d arrived at the island. They were jarring, faintly distorted memories of home, but they were just that. Memories. Maybe Percy had just twitched in his sleep. He did that sometimes, and Monty joked that he looked not dissimilar from a sleeping dog. Monty would have tried to drift off again if it was for the fact that Percy’s legs seemed to start twitching as well. And then he heard it. The awful half wheezing, half gasping sound that meant the worst. Percy was having a fit. 

“Fuck,” Monty spat out.

With his mind still foggy from the sleep, Monty clambered out of the cot. He was instantly grateful that Percy had chosen to sleep against the wall. His suspicions were correct. Percy’s once relaxed body was stiff and shaking. His feet smashed against the wall and Monty cringed at the sound. He tried to remember the reminders Felicity had given him. It was all common sense stuff really, but common sense goes out the window when a fit starts. He yanked the sheet off him, so he wouldn’t get tangled in it. Thinking quickly he balled it up and put it beside his feet so they wouldn’t slam into the wall with such ferocity. For the most part, there was nothing he could have done, and Monty hated it. It felt like he had forgotten something important. He wanted to be able to do more, to make the episodes shorter, to make them look less painful. It was wishful thinking. So he did what he knew he could do. He knelt down beside him and waited for it to pass. He tried to focus on the early morning light seeping in through the window instead of the way his limbs coiled and shook. He tried to focus on the smell of the sea air instead of how spit was starting to pool beneath Percy’s mouth, ignoring the strangled grunts he made.

It ended as suddenly as it started. His body loosened, his breathing became slow and even. Monty gently pushed his boyfriend onto his side, making sure he wouldn’t choke. Just watching the whole fit made Monty feel exhausted. He reminded himself that his weariness was nothing compared to how Percy would feel for the next day or so. He watched Percy’s face for a second as he waited for him to come round. He looked almost peaceful, the way the early morning sunrise seemed to send a soft glow over his face. When his eyes opened ever so slightly Monty tried his best to look calm, tried to look as if his heart wasn’t trying to escape from his chest. Percy tried to take in his surroundings. He let out a small confused grunt.

“You had one of your fits love,” Monty said. Percy groaned again and tried to sit up. He failed, his arms clearly not ready to take any kind of weight.   
“Easy there,” Monty reassured. He helped Percy up, supporting his back, which was slick with sweat.  
“I have work soon,” Percy mumbled. His speech was ever so slightly slurred, like the night before when the drink started taking effect.  
“I’ll take your shift,” Monty said without thinking. This was his first relatively free day in a while and he had been looking forward. But there was no way Percy would recover in time, and they needed the money.  
“Really?”  
“Of course. I’m not letting you out in this state.” It was meant as a light-hearted joke but Monty cringed as soon as the words left his mouth. Percy just snorted, the closest thing to a laugh he could’ve mustered.  
“When did you become so matronly?” He said.  
“Look at you, cracking jokes.” Percy turned away and looked out of the window. Even in the early morning light, Monty could see just how exhausted he looked. He ran his thumb over Percy’s palm. “You go back to sleep,” Monty said. Percy looked back at him, a panicked expression on his face.  
“You’re leaving?”  
“I’m not leaving until I absolutely have to.” And he didn’t. He stayed until Percy fell asleep again, his shallow breathing a sign that he had found some peace.


End file.
